Fossilized trees preserved upright through layers of rock across the United States are fueling renewed debate over one of the oldest questions in religion and science: did a massive global flood, like the one described in the Bible, actually happen?
The formations, known as polystrate fossils, are ancient tree trunks that extend vertically through multiple sedimentary rock layers. Some of those layers are believed by geologists to have formed over vast stretches of time, occasionally separated by millions of years.
Examples of the unusual fossils have been found in places including Yellowstone National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and the eastern coal regions of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Now, researchers connected to Noah’s Ark Scans, a group dedicated to finding evidence supporting the biblical ark story, say the fossils challenge conventional geological explanations.
“A dead tree doesn’t stand upright for millions of years waiting for sediment to slowly build around it,” the group wrote Wednesday on X. “It rots. It collapses.”
According to the group, the trees appear to have been buried rapidly by enormous sediment flows before decomposition could occur. Supporters of the biblical flood theory argue this points to a catastrophic event powerful enough to quickly cover entire forests under layers of mud and debris.
The argument ties directly to the Book of Genesis, which describes God sending a worldwide flood during Noah’s time. In the biblical account, rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights while underground waters burst forth, eventually covering even the highest mountains before the floodwaters receded.
Mainstream geologists and paleontologists, however, reject the idea that polystrate fossils are proof of Noah’s flood or evidence of a young Earth.
Scientists say upright fossilized trees can form through repeated local disasters over long periods of time. Volcanic eruptions, river flooding, mudslides, and swamp sedimentation can all bury trees rapidly while still fitting within the broader framework of an ancient Earth.
Many researchers point to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens as a modern example. The eruption uprooted and buried thousands of trees in sediment and volcanic material, with some remaining upright in the debris. Geologists say events like that demonstrate how rapid burial can occur naturally without requiring a global catastrophe.
Still, even some geologists outside the creationist movement have acknowledged that certain rock formations appear to have formed far more quickly than once assumed.
Derek Ager, a British geologist and former professor at University College Swansea, argued decades ago that some sedimentary processes happened in sudden bursts rather than through slow, constant accumulation. In discussing upright fossilized trees, Ager noted that if sediment built up gradually, a tall tree would decay long before burial was complete.
He described the idea of a tree remaining upright for hundreds of thousands of years during slow sediment buildup as unrealistic and concluded that sedimentation must sometimes have been “very rapid indeed.”
Although Ager did not support biblical creationism, flood advocates frequently cite his work to support their argument that catastrophic geological events played a larger role in Earth’s history than many scientists traditionally believed.
Creationist researcher Ian Juby has also argued that polystrate fossils raise difficult questions for conventional geology. He points to fossil sites where trunks appear broken, uprooted, or even upside down while extending through multiple layers of rock.
According to Juby, those features are more consistent with violent flooding and rapid sediment movement than with slow geological change over millions of years.
The debate remains deeply divisive. For creationists and biblical literalists, polystrate fossils are seen as physical evidence supporting Genesis. For mainstream scientists, they are examples of how localized catastrophic events can occur within Earth’s much longer geological history.
